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Condensed Libertarian Platform
From Tom Martin As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; * a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives, and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others. * We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized. * Consequently, we defend each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power. We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual. We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose. Individuals have the (1) the right to life (2) the right to liberty of speech and action (3) the right to property. No conflict exists between civil order and individual rights. Because only actions that infringe on the rights of others can properly be termed crimes, we favor the repeal of all laws creating "crimes" without victims. We oppose labeling cases as "civil" to avoid the due process protections of criminal law. We further oppose governmental pretrial seizure of property for criminal offenses. We support restitution for the victim at the expense of the criminal or wrongdoer. We urge the assertion of the common-law right of juries to judge not only the facts but also the justice of the law and to acquit a criminal defendant whenever they deem the law unjust or oppressive. We favor an end to the acceptance of criminal defenses based on "insanity" or "diminished capacity" which absolve the guilty of their responsibility. The only legitimate use of force is in defense against aggression of individual rights - life, liberty, and justly acquired property. We favor an immediate end to the doctrine of "Sovereign Immunity" which ignores the primacy of the individual over the abstraction of the State. We defend the rights of individuals to engage in (or abstain from) any religious activities that do not violate the rights of others. We advocate a strict separation of church and State. There is no conflict between property rights and human rights. Indeed, property rights are the rights of humans with respect to property as such are entitled to the same respect and protection as all other human rights. All rights are inextricably linked with property rights. Such rights as the freedom from involuntary servitude and the freedom of speech are based on self-ownership. Our bodies are our property as much as is justly acquired material objects. We recognizing that each person must be the sole and absolute owner of his or her own body, we support the right of women to make choices regarding pregnancy or voluntary surrogacy arrangements. Pollution of other people’s property is trespass and is a violation of individual rights. We call for a modification of the laws governing such torts as trespass and nuisance to cover damages done by air, water, radiation, and noise pollution. The Bill of Rights recognizes that an armed citizenry is essential to a free society. We affirm the right to keep and bear arms. Individual rights should not be denied, abridged, or enhanced at the expense of other people’s rights by the laws at any level of government. The so-called "War on Drugs" is a grave threat to individual liberty, to domestic order and to peace in the world; furthermore, it has provided a rationale by which the power of the state has been expanded to restrict greatly our right to privacy and to be secure in our homes. The only proper role of existing governments in the economic realm is to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which voluntary trade is protected. Government manipulation of the economy creates an entrenched privileged class - those with access to tax money - and an exploited class - those who are net taxpayers. We support the drastic reduction of both taxes and government spending; an end to deficit budgets; a halt to inflationary monetary policies; and the repeal of all controls on wages, prices, rents, profits, production, and interest rates. Since we believe that all persons are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor, We support the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, and oppose any increase in existing tax rates and the imposition of any new taxes. We require all off-budget items are included in the budget; that the budget is balanced exclusively by cutting expenditures, and not by raising taxes. We condemn all coercive monopolies, government is the source of monopoly, through its grants of legal privilege to special interests in the economy. We advocate the termination of government-created monopolies for such services as garbage collection, fire protection, electricity, natural gas, cable television, telephone, or water supplies. We advocate the separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. We encourage the growth of private schools and variety in education, including home schooling, we support tax credits for tuition and other expenditures related to an individual’s education. We call for the privatization of airports, air traffic control systems, public roads, and the national highway system. We support repeal of all laws that impede the ability of any person to find employment, We deplore government-fostered forced retirement, which robs the elderly of the right to work. We favor restoring and reviving a free market health care system. We recognize the individual’s right to self-medication, we seek the elimination of all restrictions on the right of individuals to pursue alternative forms of health care. We support the removal of all government barriers to medical advertising, including prohibition of publication of doctors’ fees and drug prices. We are opposed to FDA restrictions which make it difficult for individuals to secure treatment for the AIDS disease. We also call for the decriminalization of hypodermic syringes, especially since sharing needles is now a major means of transmission of the disease. We favor replacing the government sponsored Social Security system with a voluntary system. The ballot system, introduced into the United States in the late nineteenth century, is an abridgement of freedom of expression and of voting rights. Under it all the officially approved candidates are printed in a single government sponsored format. We should return to the previous electoral system where there was no official ballot or candidate approval at all, and therefore no state restriction of access to a "single ballot." Instead, voters submitted their own choices and had the option of using "tickets" or cards printed by candidates or political parties. American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world and the defense - against attack from abroad - of the lives, liberty, and property of the American people. We condemn the use of force, and especially the use of terrorism, against the innocent, regardless of whether such acts are committed by governments or by political and revolutionary groups. Source The above text has been gleaned from the 1993 Libertarian platform Tom Martin. The full document is 23 pages of text if recollection is correct. His intention was an attempt to resolve the paradox of covering all of the bases while making the platform as brief and concise as possible. Martin's biases and decisions to relieve the reader of mountains of minutia are reflected in what is not there. There is no "official" recognition by the Libertarian Party as to its veracity and none is needed (it would be appreciated!). The author asks anyone to prove that any portion promotes anything but the rights of the individual and the restraint of government. The core of Libertarian philosophy. The complete official Libertarian Platform can be found at HTTP://www.lp.org site. category:Planks_from_elsewhere category:Martin, Tom